Glen Elgin 16 (Special Releases 2008) Review

Hi everyone,

This was another wonderful sample from Whisky in Leiden a few weeks ago. This time an official and heavily Sherried Glen Elgin. Whom, if you remember correctly, use Worm Tubs, which should give a heft to the spirit and a sulphury-ness that would make Jim Murray quake in his fedora.

 

Glen Elgin 16 58.8%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Really heavy in style. Slightly sulphury, thick raisin and Christmas cake, dark chocolate, dense nose. Biscuit-y malt.

Taste: Soft and clean, very nice development with a surge of sweet Sherry and heavy spirit, malt, earthy, tobacco and leather, black coffee.

Finish: Long length. Black coffee, bitter charcoal, lightly dirty sulphur.

Part of the 2008 special releases. Bet they were less expensive back then too! A very nice Mortlach/Benrinnes style Glen Elgin.

85/100

Distillery: Glen Elgin

Average Score: 76

Distillery Ranking: 27th/61 places

Up/Down: 43>27 (Up 16)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #618

Whisky Network Review #736

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Hellyers Road x4 Reviews: Roaring Forty, Original 10, Pinot Noir & Lightly Peated

Hi everyone,

The Malt Vault in Utrecht is a highly recommended whisky bar in The Netherlands, in which I had a tasting booked. I also happened to taste some whiskies while I was there too, resulting in these reviews.

These first ones were a rapid-fire collection of whisky from Tasmania, Australia. A first for me because I’d never had Australian whisky before. The Hellyers Road distillery was founded in 1999.

 

Hellyers Road Roaring Forty 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Pastry and dough, an off note like burnt rubber, herbal.

Taste: Soft, lacking mouthfeel, vanilla, creamy, almost that rubber creeping in.

Finish: Medium length. Dough and pastry, creamy.

Not particularly my style of whisky. If you enjoy Jura, you’ll probably enjoy this.

60/100

Hellyers Road Original 10 46.2%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Much cleaner than the 40. Same style but with some oak, quite dry and subtle.

Taste: Clean, malt, nice fresh citrus and earthy malt, then a little too spicy but tones down into the finish.

Finish: Long length. Spicy but good with malt, vanilla and dry oak.

My favourite of these four. A nice clean and sippable whisky.

68/100

Hellyers Road Pinot Noir 46.2%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: The burnt rubber returns with more fruit and sweetness, cherry stones, better as it opens up with butter.

Taste: Soft and light, red berries, creamy, vanilla, dry oak, a little rubber again.

Finish: Medium length. Red berries, a little bitterness coming in, dry oak.

Not so much my thing, although others have thought good things.

64/100

Hellyers Road Lightly Peated 46.2%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Nice light smoke, some dough, subtle citrus note, lemon and watermelon.

Taste: Soft and creamy, vanilla, very light smoke, some orange peel, oak.

Finish: Medium length. Some spice comes in, malt and a little chocolate.

The light citrus and subtle smoke reminds me of the Penderyn Peated but the dough reminds me of Jura.

67/100

Distillery: Hellyers Road

Average Score: 68.8

Distillery Ranking: 53rd/ 62 places

Up/Down: N/a

Thanks for reading!

Australian Reviews #1-#4

Whisky Network Reviews #732-#735

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Macallan Classic Cut & Cask Strength 10 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Everyone told me the Classic Cut is no comparison to the old cask strength stuff. Everyone told me. But I did it anyway, because why the hell not.

Macallan Classic Cut 58.4%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Modern Macallan, sweet clean Sherry and malt, raisin, fig, slightly earthy, cherry. Nice nose as it opens up, if a little simple.

Taste: Clean, Sherry, raisin, generic sweetness, generic modern oak, earthy malt, clean spirit, tingling spice, ginger. Young and a bit harsh.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Lacking power here, some sweetness, malt and slightly earthy.

2017 edition, apparently there’s more editions on the way. Apparently this is only for the USA. A disappointment (as with many new Macallan's), especially compared to the old cask strength. The nose saves it really.

77/100

Macallan Cask Strength 10 58.5%

Colour: Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Richer than the new Classic Cut, with many more dried fruits, great juicy raisin, fig, tobacco, leather, oily Sherry, fresh orange.

Water: More expressive and fruity but loses power.

Taste: Really rich and intense, powerful Sherry, many raisins, fig, cherry, orange, leather, oily malt, earthy, dark chocolate, coffee, great balance too. Juicy and looooong, mocha.

Water: More earthy, softer and darker with toffee, chocolate, mocha, coffee.

Finish: Long length. Juicy raisin and Sherry, some nice oak, tobacco.

Many thanks to Bram again for this sample. A 1L bottle although I don’t know the bottling year or anything. This is fantastic, wish it was still available. I was told there was no comparison to the Classic Cut and although that isn't true (I always find it interesting to compare and they are both Macallan after all!), you can see what they mean. This stuff blows it away.

87/100

Distillery: Macallan

Average Score: 74.3

Distillery Ranking: 34th/ 61 places

Up/Down: Up 5 (39>34)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #616-#617

Whisky Network Reviews #730-#731

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

2x Tobermory 1972 IB Reviews

Hi everyone,

So I’ve recently been at two festivals with some awesome whisky. First was Whisky in Leiden where I tasted this first Tobermory 1972, I then tasted another one in Limburg the other day. Tasting it, I thought ‘I bet this is a sister cask,’ and as it turned out it was distilled on the same day!

At that point in Tobermory/Ledaig history the distillery was still called Ledaig and it had just been brought back from being closed for 42 years.

Tobermory 1972 Alembic 49.6%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Full rich old school Sherry, deep perfume, slightly earthy with mud, lovely floral notes, really complex, slight medicinal note, cinnamon and raisins. AMAZING nose.

Taste: So soft, sweet Sherry, rich fruit, fig, honey, beeswax, orange peel, floral then a little soapy, the mouthfeel is a bit off too. Oak in there as well. Time in the mouth is what it needs to reveal its full complexity.

Finish: Long length. Agh, soapy with the Sherry trying and failing to pull it up. Very late it succeeds with the help of a medicinal twang. More earthy then as it opens up.

Many thanks go to Bram of the whisky nerds bottler for this sample from a little 20cl bottle bottled in 2006 at 33yo. The soap does tone down after a bit but old Tobermory/Ledaig was always known to be hit or miss with many misses and few hits!

85/100

 

Tobermory 1972 Whisky Doris 49.4%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Deep and rich, a soapy note like 'love hearts,' parma violets, dark prune and fig, raspberry, sticky sweet, coffee beans, black cherry.

Taste: So soft then builds waves of sweetness and old oak, black coffee, stewed raisin, prune, rich spices then drier into the finish. Mouthfeel is a bit off again.

Finish: Long length. Black dark oak and chocolate notes, black coffee.

Bottled 35yo. With water the nose opens up and you get more Sherry but the taste becomes more soapy.

82/100

Distillery: Tobermory

Average Score: 80.0

Distillery Ranking: 9th/ 61 places

Up/Down: Down 1 (8>9)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #614-#615

Whisky Network Reviews #728-#729

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Mars 1988 & Yoichi 1991 Single Cask Reviews

Hi everyone,

Some rare Japanese whisky today from Mars and Yoichi.

Mars in particular I was keen to try, as the distillery closed for a long time and has only been producing again for the last few years. I had heard legendary things about the old stuff.

In the end, it turned out the other way round. The 3yo single cask I tried a while ago was way better than this one.

Mars 1988 Single Cask 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Very impressive. Complex floral, perfumed and sweet. Car sweets, orange and Turkish delight.

Taste: Very soft, silky, delicate, orange car sweets then more perfumed and floral with a soapy note. In the end it’s a bit like drinking washing up liquid.

Finish: Long length. Soapy and more than a little off. Car sweets, washing up liquid and a little oak.

Bottled 2013. I was excited about this one but very disappointing, particularly seeing the usual prices for these bottles are in the hundreds.

71/100

 

Yoichi- Nikka 1991 Single Cask 63%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Balanced and complex. Very nice amount of sweetness and smokiness, a very delicious Unami note like bacon, maple syrup and pancakes. Toffee popcorn.

Taste: Stunning arrival, dry mid-palate with lots of oak, spices and sweetness, orange, chewy sweets, then ashy smoke and bacon. Pretty delicious stuff.

Finish: Medium length. More Unami bacon and woody maple syrup.

Those Japanese... when they get it right, they get it very right. No water needed here. A little too dry maybe but bloody delicious.

88/100

Distilleries: Mars/Yoichi

Average Scores: 80/80.5

Distillery Rankings: 10th/11th of 64 places

Up/Down: Mars down 3>11 (9 places)

Thanks for reading!

Japanese Reviews #19-#20

Whisky Network Reviews #726-#727

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Longmorn 1968 Scott's & OB16 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Another fantastic old whisky today from the Maltstock guys (again, many many thanks!) and a bonus old review I’ve forgotten to put up for ages.

Longmorn 1968 Scott's Selection 61.8%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Very oaky, gone into a little alien territory, leather, wet ash, complex tropical fruit hidden underneath. Musty.

Water: More expressive with more of the tropical fruit, dried mango, orange, old wooden cupboards. Needs lots of time to open up.

Taste: Wow, stunning! Very tropical, great oak, complex leather and chocolate, strength doesn't feel at all. Mango and dried pineapple, milk bottle sweets.

Water: More intense arrival, waves of green apple, citrus, tropical fruit and lots of oak, chocolate and leather.

Finish: Long length. Goes very soft but stays with silky oak, milk chocolate and some malt. Longer with water.

Bottled 2003, at 35yo. Incredible strength for the age, and incredibly soft. Nose is a little closed though, holding it back.

87/100

 

Longmorn 16 (Old Bottling) 48%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Juicy tropical fruit- Mango, pineapple, light American oak, vanilla.

Taste: Really juicy, mango, pineapple, apple, vanilla, honey.

Finish: Medium length.

A very nice tropical whisky, no idea why the discontinued this. Oh wait, they bumped the price from £50 to £90.

75/100

Distillery: Longmorn

Average Score: 80.3

Distillery Ranking: Joint 8th/ 62 places

Up/Down: N/a

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #612-#613

Whisky Network Reviews #724-#725

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?